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🧵 on how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the #GlobalSouth.

I have argued a few times that for all practical purposes, the global south does not exist for Mastodon, and for the rest of the Fediverse. But many people I interact with do not quite understand how this works in practice.

This series of posts is an effort to illustrate that mechanism.

(continues)
#fediverse #mastodon #globalsouth
Feral Thoughts
Say there is a user X on random server Y. Assume that no user on mastodon.social (for example) follows user X. Assume that users on mastodon.social follow other users on server Y. Assume further that neither server has blocked the other.

User X writes a post containing the term, say, #Namibia. The post receives no reply, no boost, no like.

Later, someone searches for #Namibia on mastodon.social. The search results will NOT include user X’s post containing the term #Namibia.

(continues)
#namibia
Jérôme
@EdwinG been trying to follow more accounts from the #Philippines, and it’s definitely been a challenge. I’m never so sure if there are indeed very few users or it’s just that my server is mostly federating with North American and France servers.

I experience the same thing on a totally different topic. Formula 1. It’s a very European sport and I barely see any content because my French Canadian server isn’t connected to lots of UK or other Europeans servers (beside France)
@Edwin G. :mapleleafroundel: 🎅
Feral Thoughts
That's precisely the point---on the Fediverse, it's impossible to know if you are not finding relevent global south (or other low visibility) users/posts, or if they simply do not exist.
Jérôme
yeah it sometimes feels too defederated. At the same time, the Bluesky alternative of a single firehose is just so big that almost nobody can self host. I’m not so sure what the ideal scenario or solution is.

Self host and choose relays of what you think is the most relevant to you?
Feral Thoughts
Maybe.

But how does it differ from today's situation of several relays, each with a partial view of the Fediverse?

Maybe we need special relays focussed on global south servers. Or maybe existing relays should go out of their way to index those servers. Ultimately, all such solutions will boil down to social dynamics.

Unless a significant section of the existing global-north-heavy user base actively wants it to happen, it won't happen.
Edwin G. :mapleleafroundel: 🎅
Relays are configured by the instance’s admin... Posts are pushed to the relay’s inbox; not pulled from the instance. So the second suggestion doesn’t really work with the current implementation.

Regional relays are a reasonable solution I think. There are already country-centric relays… so it’s definitely doable.
Squads
This is an important discussion.

What do you think could be done to make the #GlobalSouth more visible on #Mastodon and the #Fediverse?

@FediTips
#fediverse #mastodon #globalsouth @Fedi.Tips
Fedi.Tips
This is what Groups are for, if you post to a group it goes to everyone who follows the group no matter what server they are on:

https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on-the-fediverse

Groups are like "super hashtags".

About the general topic of the global south, there need to be a lot more servers owned by people from the global south. For example https://paktodon.asia is doing a great job but we need more of them.

Owning a server is what ultimately distributes power.

How to use groups on Mastodon and the Fediverse | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tips
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Feral Thoughts
The paucity of global south servers ultimately boils down

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114037640671009789

and

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114037643779263418

and

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114030807764667593

(continues)

Feral Thoughts (@feralthoughts@union.place)

@weaver@zirk.us Yes - overall, I agree with your argument. Put simply: the material conditions at present are NOT suitable for large-scale decentralized/federated or peer-to-peer social media to emerge in the #GlobalSouth.
The Union Place
Feral Thoughts
Also: (global south or other low visibility) users/topics on even global north servers get invisiblized.

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114042102592947484

That’s something that needs to be addressed, I feel.

(continues)

Feral Thoughts (@feralthoughts@union.place)

@UlrikeHahn@fediscience.org Would just like to point out that the problem is starker than you realized. In the hypothetical example at https://union.
The Union Place
Feral Thoughts
As for groups, I agree they are great for people who will pro-actively work towards curating their feed; but an overwhelming majority of the global south, and maybe even of the global north, simply do not have the bandwidth for that.

Life is really miserable for a hell of a lot of people. For them, getting federated social media working is way way down the priority list. It may not even be there.

ps: I value and appreciate your work.
Fedi.Tips
It's as easy to use a group as it is to use a hashtag.

"For them, getting federated social media working is way way down the priority list."

I am not in the global south, but the effect of centralised social media on the global south is horrific:

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-02-20/facebook-accused-of-letting-activists-incite-ethnic-massacres-with-hate-and-misinformation-by-survivors-in-ethiopia/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/06/rohingya-sue-facebook-myanmar-genocide-us-uk-legal-action-social-media-violence

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/ethiopia-facebook-algorithms-contributed-human-rights-abuses-against-tigrayans

These are caused by corrupt centralised social media. Either it needs to be extremely heavily regulated or it needs to be replaced.

Facebook accused by survivors of letting activists incite ethnic massacres with hate and misinformation in Ethiopia

Fact checkers and civil society organisations describe company's virtually 'non-existent' support for their work tackling misinformation
Jasper Jackson (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
Feral Thoughts
That corporations are unscrupulous and will do everything and anything to maximize profits, I have no argument with.

But do not mislead yourself about "cause" vs "convenient tool". If non-corporate, federated social media was as widespread as FB in those places, then it would have been used to facilitate the same atrocities.

Social media overwhelmingly reflects existing social pathologies, it does not play as big a role in creating them as critics believe.
Fedi.Tips
", then it would have been used to facilitate the same atrocities."

I don't agree with this at all.

The ratio of moderators to users on the Fediverse is something like 100 times better than on Facebook etc. There is typically a human for every 1000 users.

Commercial social networks have barely any moderators. To match the Fediverse's ratio Facebook would need literally millions of moderators, but that would make them financially unviable.
Feral Thoughts
If/when the Fedi grows, and becomes socially influential in any of our massively unequal societies; the established powers will rush in, and drive it towards centralization. Or force it to shrink back to its original tiny, socially irrelevant size.

You cannot assume linear scaling, you cannot assume that today’s tiny Fediverse, already flawed in many ways, will scale up without changing character.

This will be as much the case for the global north Fedi as the global south Fedi.
Fedi.Tips
The Fedi right now is far, far larger than before 2022 (when Musk bought Twitter).

The structure of the Fedi where the servers are owned by thousands of grassroots people means we can ignore corporations if we choose to. That didn't change with the surge in 2022, and Mastodon's software developers were offered VC money in 2022 but they turned it down.

We mustn't obey in advance by assuming that corporations will control everything. An alternative is possible and exists here.
Feral Thoughts
I am not obeying in advance, or assuming anything about corporations. Nor am I cynical about the possibilities of change.

I know about mass defederation of gab.com and truth.social. But you have to remember that the Fedi is still tiny, in terms of user base and interactions. It just isn't relevant enough for truly powerful forces to expend resources sufficient to subdue it.

(continues)
Fedi.Tips
"Social media overwhelmingly reflects existing social pathologies, it does not play as big a role in creating them as critics believe."

This isn't true. Media can play a key role in causing genocide. For example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_T%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision_Libre_des_Mille_Collines

Facebook etc are allowing lots of RTLMs to exist because they don't moderate properly, and especially don't give a shit about people in the global south.

Rwandan radio station that incited the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)
Feral Thoughts
RTLM was literally planned and launched by some of the people who went on to execute the genocide in Rwanda.

If the Fediverse is big, a group like that will launch their own server, and use all legal and extra-legal measures to ensure they become the dominant one. And remember that in an environment fertile for hate, a large number of people will voluntarily join such a server.

The Fedi doesn't exist in a vacuum, it cannot remain immune to social forces.
Fedi.Tips
"If the Fediverse is big, a group like that will launch their own server, and use all legal and extra-legal measures to ensure they become the dominant one."

We already saw this attempted with gab.com in 2019 and every server blocked them. They eventually left because no one would federate with them.

The main app Tusky rickrolled people who tried to use their app with Gab:

https://github.com/tuskyapp/Tusky/issues/1381

Don't obey in advance. Don't assume defeat in advance. We are not powerless.

Unexpected behavior when connecting to instance · Issue #1381 · tuskyapp/Tusky

When attempting to connect to the gab.com instance, the app sends me to YouTube and plays this video. I think the source of the bug is here: Tusky/app/src/main/res/values/donottranslate.xml Line 11...
GitHub
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